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East of Eden | Changing Attitudes toward Steinbeck’s Naturalism and the Changing Reputation of East of Eden: A Survey of the Criticism since 1974

In the following essay, Etheridge examines how “the perception of Steinbeck’s naturalism has changed since the early 1970s,” and how “these changes have affected the reevaluation of East of Eden.”

Until a few years ago, John Steinbeck’s literary reputation depended upon how critics perceived his naturalism. As long as he wrote in what was perceived as a naturalistic vein, he received high praise. When his work became less overtly naturalistic, his reputation declined drastically. During the past fifteen years this pattern of criticism has changed as critics have begun to question whether or not Steinbeck was a naturalist.

No novel is a better barometer of how Steinbeck’s reputation is faring than East of Eden. Upon its initial publication, it was considered a...

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